Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Hamas Won Because Bibi Talks Like Churchill and Acts Like Chamberlain

Despite the fact that there was a bus bombing in Tel Aviv just this morning, which is a red line that the Palestinians should not have been allowed to cross, the Israelis have folded. Part of the reason is clearly bullying from our anti-Israel thug from Chicago President, but Bibi should be standing up to him, especially with Israeli lives in danger. But no, when push comes to shove, Bibi is just all talk. He lost the initiative of a great initial strike against Hamas and handed them a victory. Just take a look at the cease fire terms:

Agreement of Understanding For a Ceasefire in the Gaza Strip

1: (no title given for this section)

A. Israel should stop all hostilities in the Gaza Strip land, sea and air including incursions and targeting of individuals.

B. All Palestinian factions shall stop all hostilities from the Gaza Strip against Israel including rocket attacks and all attacks along the border.

C. Opening the crossings and facilitating the movements of people and transfer of goods and refraining from restricting residents' free movements and targeting residents in border areas and procedures of implementation shall be dealt with after 24 hours from the start of the ceasefire.

D. Other matters as may be requested shall be addressed.

2: Implementation mechanisms:

A. Setting up the zero hour for the ceasefire understanding to enter into effect.

B. Egypt shall receive assurances from each party that the party commits to what was agreed upon.

C. Each party shall commit itself not to perform any acts that would breach this understanding. In case of any observations Egypt as the sponsor of this understanding shall be informed to follow up.

As you can see from section 1C, Hamas is being rewarded for its attacks by a loosening of the blockade on Gaza. How is it that the aggressor who started this whole thing and was on its heels gets a payoff? That's just ridiculous. And where is the enforcement/consequences of Hamas continuing to launch attacks against Israel after the ceasefire takes hold? In Section 2C all it says is that Egypt will be told and they will follow up. Yes, Egypt, the country headed by the anti-semitic Muslim Brotherhood. Bibi just folded like a pack of cards under severe American pressure and appeased Israel's enemies for nothing but promises (and not very strong ones at that).

A ceasefire is just horrible news for Israel for a number of reasons that I listed yesterday:

1. It would allow Hamas and Islamic Jihad to rearm and regroup. After all those targeted assassinations and attacks on communications networks, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are probably in relative disarray. That would quickly go away as any terrorist can always be replaced and communications networks can be rebuilt.

2. It would further improve Hamas' standing relative to Fatah. Now, I'm no lover of Fatah but they are fat, corrupt and lazy terrorists, who I find preferable to the more crazy and radical Hamas. The fact that Fatah has been almost completely silent while Hamas has faced the brunt of Israeli military power will not be lost on the Palestinian populace. Neither will the fact that, once again, Hamas will have survived such an encounter while taking shots at both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

3. It will erode Israeli deterrence further. Hamas has launched hundreds of rockets, including some at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and all that happens are some airstrikes? And then the international community shuts it down before Israel actually does anything meaningful? Seems like a process that would incentivize Hamas to do this again, over and over in fact. Haven't the million Israelis who have had to run into bunkers for much of this year, suffered enough? Don't they deserve a definitive solution? Or are they supposed to continue being 15 seconds from a shelter as the status quo is reinforced? This entire operation could be a relatively huge waste of time. It started out nice, a bit of shock and awe that erased a key Hamas military figure from human existence. That would have been a great time for some blitzkreig tactics, while Hamas was organizationally in disarray. But instead, there was a lot of waiting around. And the rockets keep coming. If the ceasefire is agreed to, what exactly will have been achieved? Nothing. Millions of lives affected, an economy disrupted and absolutely nothing achieved.

4. I seem to remember an IDF that played to win, now they seem to play to tie. Or are just going through the motions. If I am thinking that, other people are too. That would be disastrous for Israel longer term. A ceasefire will only make the IDF look unserious, at least in comparison to its former self. IDF of the Six Day War, of Entebbe, of the Suez Crossing in 1973. Not the Israeli army that was sitting in the shade in the 2nd Lebanon war waiting for orders that never came.

Elections have consequences and those 70% of Jews who voted for Obama just sold Israel down the river.